@KhaiPan Pam and I are both stubborn opinionated people and without mutual respect, we'd be in constant battle. Instead, I love her. I watch her utter devotion to the dogs, to doing things right, to helping anyone who needs help. She isn't stuck in any idea... given proof and research, she'll reconsider. She is calming. 🙂 Knowing you have someone personally in your corner navigating this helps a lot. Glad you contacted her.
Fanconi Syndrome
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@dropit - Great idea! Thanks for sharing
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I know people think Gonto walks on water...and I don't in any way want to take away from his incredible work for Basenjis, but be aware he is not a veterinarian. He is not a medical doctor.
People have blindly followed him even when his protocol was clearly not working for their dog. I have heard of far too many who think if his protocol doesn't work, then there's no other option. And if you even suggest that further research by medical researchers might be helpful in advancing the protocol, better have on your flame retardant suit because they will come for you.
When dogs that have been given up on try adjustments and their quality of life improves, then his is not the only way.
If his protocol is working and your dog is doing really well, great. If not, please think of all the different treatments for many disorders...one treatment rarely is the right for all. It isn't a personal insult to Dr Gonto to try something else if it might help your dog.
Pam Hamilton isn't a medical doctor or veterinarian either, but I have seen near miracles. At least talk to her, discuss options, try them if you like. flbasenji@gmail.com
Ultimately we all want to keep our dogs as healthy as long as possible. Quality of life matters. Just keep an open mind.
Debra
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Hello, I had a wonderful basenji named Titan back in the day who had Fanconi. He too would not eat anything with a pill in it, pill pockets did not work. We finally did just pill him by putting pills down the throat and then we gave him treats afterwards--cheese, dog cookies, raw meat bits, salmon treats, ham, chicken bits--just everything and anything he liked.
That worked very well for us and he would actually trot into the kitchen and wait expectantly for his post pill treats. We pilled Titan twice a day with about the same dosage as you mention in your post. You might want to try pilling him that way, start by giving him 2 pills, then a treat, 2 pills, then a treat and treats afterwards.
I was able to put 2 pills between my fingers and give him 2 pills at a time after awhile. Also, lots of praise and hugs during. You can slowly work up to giving him a treat between every 4-5 treats.
Best of luck,
Diane
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Regarding Gonto not being a vet.
The Gonto protocol was analyzed and investigated in a study that appeared in the Journal of the American Veterinary Association back in 2004 and it was found to be a sound and useful protocol.
(https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.2004.225.377).He has since revised it www.basenjirescue.org/fanconi/fanconi-protocol-2015.pdf
No treatment works 100% of the time, but this was quite the lifesaver for my family. My dog Titan was on it for four years and his levels were stable up until the end when he succumbed from a brain tumor.
Diane
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Regarding pilling, I find some dogs aren't too difficult, but I had one Basenji in particular that would appear to have swallowed the pill but subsequently would spit it out, often after having collected the treat that came as a reward. I don't know how she did it! OTOH, my Border Collie spit out a pill once and when I expressed my displeasure he gave me a "sorry boss" look and promptly picked up the pill and ate it. Different breeds! When I had both it was night and day dealing with them. The BC would do anything for my praise, was not at all interested in treats (would eat them if I insisted), the Basenjis were always "What's in it for me?"
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@debradownsouth Good point. We're so fortunate to have both Pam and Steve Gonto to support our sick babies. Pam is indeed a miracle worker, and never gives up on dogs.
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Hello. Just wanted to thank everyone once again. Today was a very successful day. I was able to get Lily to take all 7 sodium bicarbonate tablets in cat food. I was very careful when hiding the pills. I used tweezers and gloves and I think that did the trick. Tomorrow I will try 7 tabs in the morning and 7 tabs at night. After a few days, I will add her vitamins to the regimen. Thanks again and I will keep you posted!
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@b5004ever said in Fanconi Syndrome:
Regarding Gonto not being a vet.
The Gonto protocol was analyzed and investigated in a study that appeared in the Journal of the American Veterinary Association back in 2004 and it was found to be a sound and useful protocol.
(https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.2004.225.377). <<Actually, they found nothing
What effect the treatment regimen had on survival time or lifespan could not be determined, given the small number of dogs managed with other methods. <<
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@anna I"m adding this only because I didn't see it suggested in the other 18 responses... I have never had to give so many pills as you are - so I feel for you (so to speak). But, try this... get a cheap coffee grinder and grind the pills up. Then, instead of putting them into pill casings, mix them with some chicken stock and pour the stock over their breakfast/dinner foods. You'll probably only need 1-2T of stock to disolve the powder and the liquid should act like a gravy sauce over kibble or human foods. Bet the bowl gets licked dry! Here's hoping that you find a solution that works for everyone!
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@elbrant
The bitterness might make that a no go -
I would like to thank everyone once again for their comments and responses. Just an update. The cat food seems to be working. I am scooping the cat food into little balls using a melon scooper, then I insert the tablet using tweezers, and then I mold it into a perfect little ball using gloves. She is now taking all 7 sodium bicarbonate tablets and 2 vitamins twice a day (18 tablets total per day). I still have 2 more tablets to add to the regimen but am I confident that it won’t be a problem. I can’t tell you how happy I am that she is now taking her tablets. It is such a relief. I know it will take a little time to get her blood levels back up to where they need to be so I will wait about a month before having her blood work checked. Again, I can’t thank everyone enough for their ideas and comments. I am adding a photo of Lily, hopefully it loads. 
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Glad that is helping!
No picture though. -
Sorry. The other photo won’t upload because it’s too big. This is the only one small enough to upload. -
Lily has figured out that the cat food has pills in it. I made a mistake and used liverwurst last night instead of cat food because it doesn’t smell as much. She knew right away that there were pills in the liverwurst and she ate all of the liver wurst and left a few pills. This morning I went back to cat food and she ate all of the cat food and left a few pills. I am going to try to give her the pills she didn’t take later in a different flavor cat food. She is just too smart! I hope it works otherwise I will have to try a different food.
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Unfortunately they catch on fast.
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Yes. They catch on real fast. I thought that would happen. Been there. That's why I've had to use the capsules. My dog is extremely smart. Their scent is nearly bionic. As Deb said ...even if the pills are mixed with anything like broth she won't touch it. My dog will also not tolerate having pills pushed down her throat no matter how many treats i would give her before or after. She can see that coming. She is not stupid. Not all basenjis have the same tolerance and temperment and many people don't understand this.
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@dropit Really good point.
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Sorry, I haven’t posted in a few days. I have tried putting the pills in a couple of new foods and she refuses to eat any of them. I tried tuna fish with a little mayo, which she normally likes, and I also tried raviolis. Anything I give her she is skeptical of. She will not readily take anything until she smells it for a good 2 minutes and if she even thinks it doesn’t smell right she won’t eat it. It is so frustrating because not everything I give her has pills in it. I tried to make a game of it by giving “treats” to Lily and Georgie thinking the competition would help, but Lily insists on smelling everything and doesn’t care if Georgie gets her treats before she has a chance to eat them. She will just as willingly not eat anything. Thanks for listening. I will let you know how things go over the next few days.
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At some point you will just have to accept that she is not going to take the pills unless you don't give her the option of refusing. If you don't want to force them on her IMO it's better to concede this battle and just feed her the best diet that you can. If she is refusing to eat, ultimately that will do more harm than going off the protocol.
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This will be my last post but I'm sorry about the problems you are having. They are similar to what I experienced. When dogs first get this condition they have little appetite. If you can get her on the medications her appetite should improve although as someone mentioned, you can only do so much and then just giving her the best foods and walking her so that she has an appetite may be the best thing you can do for her. Here is what happened with my dog: She wouldn't accept foods with pills hidden in them because she could smell it, and she had little appetite when the condition first appeared. As I said I ground up the pills and stuffed them in No. 4 capsules available on Amazon. Do a few hundred in a few hours when you have spare time. If you want, make some bacon and let the grease cool. Rub the filled capsules in the bacon grease to help hide any residual scent of meds then separate the capsules into plastic bags and label them how many of each she needs to take per day. Take your dog for a long walk and let her explore. Basenjis are hunting dogs so let them have fun and don't make them walk beside you. Find out what meat she loves, grill it and stuff a capsule in a small chunk of it just large enough to totally hide the capsule. Mix that with her kibble and mix that in with any oils that come from the grilling. I give mine about 10 capsules total per day in a combination of sodium bicarbonate, renal K, pet tabs plus and amino fuel. After being on this regimen for a time her appetite came back. It is a lot of work but something we accept. Dogs chew muscle meat but tend to swallow fatty meats. As a result she is less likely to notice the hidden capsules in small chunks of fatty pork. This is what worked for me. I'm not saying it will work for you but at least give it a try before you give up. I wish you the best.
